2001 Audi A4 1.8T Quattro from North America - Comments

At 7300 miles I had a speaker and the fuel sending unit replaced.

At 9,000 miles an ignition coil was replaced.

At 13,000 miles an ingnition coil was replaced.

At 22,000 miles the check engine light came on, but the technicians couldn't find a problem. The left rearview mirror and a speaker were replaced and the car was serviced for a water leak that soaked the carpet twice. The fuel guage was operating erratically, but technicians could not duplicate.

At 25,000 miles the cruise control switch, an interior light, all the ignition coils, and the front armrest were replaced.

At 29,000 miles a headlight was replaced.

At 30,000 miles the windshield and headlight washer pumps and left rearview mirror were replaced.

At 36,000 miles another part on the windshield washing system and front brake pads were replaced. The brake pads had apparently cracked and were barely hanging on. The technicians also couldn't find a problem with the engine surging.

After my last appointment the engine almost died at an intersection and again on the interstate on my way home from the service center. Currently the sunroof intermittently won't close, the fuel guage is providing erratic readings, and the engine still surges and can't decide whether to downshift, upshift, or utilize the turbo charger on hills, but I refuse to take it back until it dies or I reach the next scheduled maintenance period (40,000 miles).

I recently contacted Audi Customer Care about replacing this car or terminating the lease and allowing me to purchase another vehicle from the Volkswagen family. They offered to let me purchase a new Audi at sticker price and roll my remaining lease payments into it's cost. In other words, they want me to give them back the care, reward them by purchasing another, and keep paying for the one I don't have any more.

I get approached by other A4 owners in public wanting to compare the problems we've had.

I've found that using 83 octane fuel versus the recommended 91 octane actually makes the engine run more smoothly and doesn't seem to reduce the power too much.

There is a very big problem concerning all volkswagen/audi turbocharged 1.8t engines. There is a very big flaw in the design of the engines that lead to ignition coil failure.

I thought it was the COILS themselves that were defective.

Is there new information that I haven't heard about the 1.8 liter turbocharged engine?

No wonder you are having engine problems with it, 83 octane is like putting sand in the 1.8.

83 octane in a turbo engine?? That's just cruel.

These go well on 98 though!

"Utilize the turbo charger?"

Poster is not exactly car-savvy, judging by this wording.

All of your issues were dealt with under warranty... good grief, complaining that you just can't neglect the car?

And running 83 octane in an engine designed to run on minimum SAE 91 is an exercise in laziness, neglect, and poor financial reasoning.

The guy probably meant 93... could be and hopefully is a typo haha.

I have a 2001 Audi A4 1.8t... AWD etc. It's an all around good car, but I have the same gas tank problem and wind shield washer problem. Also my check engine light is on and they do not know why... they thought it was from the exhaust, but the exhaust was fine... I will never buy another Audi/VW again.

And I am 17, and I can't afford to fix this magnificent peace of crap

I have the same gas gauge problem on my 01 Audi A4 1.8t.

I love the car, but I hear most problems are on the 2001 VWs and Audis, not exactly sure why, probably just a rumor.

Either way, even though it has its faults, I love this car to death and will drive it till the piston shoots through my hood, because I was too lazy to add oil.

I don't know what you guys are doing to your cars. My has been great to me. I have had my share of issues, but nothing worse than other people have had with other manufacturers.

I have 125k on her, and have replaced the brakes, oil pump, fuel pump, and all 4 wheel bearings. Total out of pocket for all that was only $200 because of the warranty.

I changed all the coils recently for only $135 because one went bad and was told it's a good idea to change them all at the same time. Also my engine light has been on an off for the 7 years of having the car, but spending $6 and about an hour working on it in my garage I changed a few vacuum hoses that were dry rotting.

These cars are not that hard to work on yourself if you pop the hood every once in a while and see what doesn't look right.

My experience with an A4 has been really good. I have a 1998 A4 1.8t FWD 5 spd, and bought this car with 105k on it, and now it has 156k with no problems except that I changed the control arms set and the temperature sensor. I am a rough driver on it, love to accelerate really fast.

With everything said, this has been one on my favorite cars, unlike the 2000 A6 2.7t that I bought for my wife, which ended up being the worst mechanical problem car I ever bought.